After overwhelming anticipation, House republicans voted Wednesday to rip GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney from her leadership position.
The decision was made by voice vote, meaning there will be no tally of who voted for or against her oust. Sources inside the closed-door vote said it was overwhelmingly against the Wyoming republican, The Hill reports.
The vote represents a major shift from a similar challenge to her leadership status last February, which she won. It also marks the first time in recent history that a congressional GOP leader was taken down in the middle of their term by means of a formal vote.
But, it seems like she was honestly begging for it.
“The problem is you can’t have a republican conference chair who continually recites democrat talking points,” Rep. Jim Jordan said Tuesday night, prior to the vote. “You can’t have a republican conference chair who takes positions that 90 percent of the party oppose.”
While President Trump was not present at the Cheney vote, he shared his thoughts less than 30 minutes before.
“The republicans in the House of Representatives have a great opportunity today to rid themselves of a poor leader, a major Democrat talking point, a warmonger, and a person with absolutely no personality or heart,” he said in a statement.
With the vote, republicans are now “very unified,” Rep. Ben Kline told The Hill. “We have a diverse conference with diverse views; we celebrate that. And we look to our leadership for our messaging, and we don’t want to distract from that message.”
While it is unclear who will fill Cheney’s now empty position, it is expected that she will be replaced by Trump loyalist Rep. Elise Stefanik.
